


Another Time, Another Place

by maddiemoiselleeee



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Altean Lance (Voltron), Alternate Reality, Angst, Balmeran Hunk (Voltron), Civil War, M/M, Occurs between s3e4 & s3e5 (compliant), War
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-05-31
Updated: 2018-07-01
Packaged: 2019-05-16 10:51:38
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 3
Words: 6,480
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14809955
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/maddiemoiselleeee/pseuds/maddiemoiselleeee
Summary: “I think,” Pidge started, swallowing hard. “That we ended up in an alternate reality.” She explained.“What?!” Lance demanded, pulling off his own helmet to stare at her. “That isn’t possible. That’s not possible, right?”





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> So I graduate on June 1st and I have so much stress and anxiety building on me that I can't sleep, so I do what I always do when I can't sleep and go through my drafts and work on stuff. I honestly have so many ideas for this fic but I really doubt I'm gonna continue it, it's just kind of a short little drabble. I mean, unless it's really highly demanded that I continue it, in which case I might. So sit back and relax unlike me and enjoy 1500 words that barely make sense.
> 
> also i feel the need to mention it's only rated T because if voltron wasn't targeted towards kids i'm 900000000000% sure keith and shiro for that matter would have potty mouths so that's how they're going to be written ok

_ Stupid Lance,  _ Keith thought to himself as he trudged through thick foliage, angrily slashing at the leaves and vines that got in his way with his bayard.  _ I knew he was a shitty pilot. _

He, Pidge, and Lance had all been sent on a reconnaissance mission that should have been simple enough. For reasons unknown to him, they let Lance pilot them for this mission, which resulted in them slamming into some sort of void that Pidge had clearly warned the former to look out for. Once crossing onto the other side, Keith and Pidge were ejected from the lion without warning where they plummeted towards the planet they ended up at, effectively separating all of them.

Keith was growing frustrated as the dense array of trees and bushes seemed to be never-ending. He was tired from all the slashing he had to do and was extremely pissed off because of Lance’s incompetence. When he found them again —  _ if _ he found them again — the first thing he was doing was sending his bayard right through Lance’s stupid head. Or, at the very least, a swift kick in the groin. 

Finally,  _ finally _ , after what felt like hours, the foliage cleared up, leaving him in a very small clearing. That was good enough for him, he decided, as he sank to his knees and fell forward, wanting nothing more than to take a nap. He knew, however, that this was probably the best area to try and open communications with anyone so they could find him. Before he could try, however, there was a rustling sound in front of him that made him snap to his feet. 

With his bayard at the ready, Keith stood in a defensive pose, praying to god it was Pidge, or at the very least, Lance. When the figure jumped out of the bushes at him and swung a decently sized sword, Keith knew he was in trouble. He thought he heard Pidge through the communications system, but his helmet was swiftly knocked off of his head and a kick was brought harshly to his stomach, making him groan and fly back, his bayard soaring out of his reach. 

He knew for damn sure he wasn’t going to let whatever beat him easily, so he quickly got back to his feet and went to lunge at the attacker, but there was a visible change in the latter’s demeanor. His sword lowered and his shoulders sagged. Though he couldn’t see his face because of a hooded cloak, he could tell that the attacker looked at least somewhat human. His clothes were strangely familiar though he knew he’d never seen them before. They looked almost like royalty, but not quite. Keith wasn’t as sure what he was doing, but before he could try and get a blow in with just his fists, the attacker spoke. “Keith?”

Keith froze at the sound of the voice, and when the figure before him tossed his navy blue hood back, he felt his stomach drop and grew cold as he gasped.

“ _ Lance?! _ ” 

The man before him was most certainly Lance despite a few minor physical differences. Brown, curly hair, tan skin covering a lean body, striking blue eyes, even his voice,  _ those _ were most certainly Lance. Long, pointed ears, royal clothing that he couldn’t help but notice looked like a mix between Coran’s and Allura’s outfits, and blue half-moon markings under his eyes were most definitely  _ not _ Lance. 

Lance’s eyes grew in excitement and he dashed towards Keith, hugging him tightly, much to Keith’s ever-growing confusion. “Oh my god, I thought I’d never see you again. I missed you so much.” He sighed in relief. Keith was too shocked to do much more than accept the hug. They’d only been separated for at most a few hours, there was no way  _ this _ could have happened.

The hug was abruptly ended and Lance cupped Keith’s face, squishing his cheeks uncomfortably. “Did they hurt you anywhere? How did you escape? Where did you get this bizarre armor?” He demanded, getting uncomfortably close to Keith’s face. When Keith tried to answer despite his lips being too squished together to mouth words properly, Lance simply sighed, releasing his harsh grip on Keith’s face to cup it more gently, giving him a warm smile. “You know what? I don't care. I’m just glad you’re safe.” He whispered, then did something unthinkable.

He leaned in closer to Keith’s face again and let his soft lips press against Keith’s.

Keith nearly jumped out of his skin when he did, his eyes widening and his hands flailing in mid-air, unsure of if he should place them on Lance or push him away and kick his ass. The latter seemed  _ much _ more plausible right now, but thankfully he didn’t have to think too hard before he heard Pidge’s voice emerging from the forest.

“Oh good, Keith, I found you. I was so worried after you suddenly—” She didn’t get much more in before she finally noticed what was going on, making her quickly shut up. Her helmet was pulled off and she quickly backed away, her free hand up in defense. “My bad, I didn’t realize I was interrupting. Carry on, I can wait.” She said.

Lance finally pulled away from Keith, much to his relief, and gave Pidge a strange look. “Katie, what are you doing here, in the same armor as Keith no less? And when did you cut your hair?” He asked, genuinely confused. 

Pidge and Keith gave each other a look. “Uh, first off, since when have you called me Katie? No one does.” She asked with a slightly offended tone. “And secondly, you’ve only known me with my short hair, you never knew what I looked like with long hair. Did you hit your head?”

Lance raised his eyebrows. “Did you hit yours? What are you even talking about?” 

It was then that another sound rustled in the foliage, causing Lance to push Keith behind him and raise his sword. Keith was about to voice his offense at the gesture when out of the bushes popped Lance —  _ their Lance _ — looked exhausted and defeated. 

“Man, you guys have no idea what I’ve been through today.” He started, not even looking up at everyone. “First off, I—” He finally did look up though and noticed the shocked and confused faces of Pidge and Keith. He was about to question them when he finally locked eyes with other Lance, making him lower his gun he had been holding. “Holy quiznak.”

“I think,” Pidge started, swallowing hard. “That we ended up in an alternate reality.” She explained.

“ _ What _ ?!” Lance demanded, pulling off his own helmet to stare at her. “That isn’t possible. That’s not possible, right?”

“You know first-hand that it is.” Keith reminded him, slowly emerging from behind the one who was guarding him. “It’s the only thing that makes sense. I think we just found one of your alternate selves.”

“Like with Shiro and Slav.” Pidge muttered in agreement. “So that’s why you kissed Keith, you assumed he was this world’s Keith.” She said, gesturing to the alternate version of Lance.

“He did what now?!” Earth-Lance demanded, glancing between Keith and other Lance.

“How are we going to get back?” Keith interrupted, keen on changing the subject. “Last time we did a reality jump, wasn’t there like a portal of quintessence? Is there something like that around here, Lance?”

“How the quiznak would I know?”

“I’m not sure what that is.”

When both of the Lance’s answered at once, everyone was equally confused. Pidge broke the awkward silence first. “We need different names to call them or I’m going to go crazy. Well, crazier.”

“We could call me Sharpshooter and him Faker.” Lance supplied with an evil grin. 

“I was thinking more along the lines of Dumbass for you.” Keith supplied with a smirk. Earth-Lance glared daggers at him.

“You can call me by my name in Altean.” Other-Lance suggested. When he pronounced it for them, however, it sounded like someone trying to pronounce the result of smashing a keyboard.

“This is frustrating.” Pidge sighed, taking off her glasses and wiping them on her shirt.

Keith stared at the Altean version of Lance, which was probably weird but he started to draw more connections after he confirmed he was Altean. He cleared his throat, making everyone glance towards him. “You're royalty, aren't you?” He asked.

The Altean Lance almost scoffed, Keith could see it in the way the corner of his mouth turned, but he caught himself beforehand, remembering that Keith didn't actually know him. “Yes, I'm the Prince of Altea, heir to the throne. Why?”

“Because we can refer to you as such, just like Allura.” Keith said, looking at Pidge and Lance.

The Prince raised his eyebrows. “You know my sister?” He asked, but before anyone could answer, he turned on his heels. “I suppose we can discuss everything more back at the base. It's not far from here.” he explained as he began to walk towards the foliage.

The three left in the clearing looked at each other and shrugged. Pidge was the first one to follow him, while Lance just looked mopey.

“Ah, man. This guy's a prince and Allura's my sister? Can this day get any worse?” He asked.

Keith clapped a hand on his shoulder as he walked past him. “I'm sure it can. Now let's go, Sharpshooter.”


	2. Chapter 2

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> This new universe is more than meets the eye.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So I originally wasn't going to continue this, but I got a lot of support suggesting I do, so here's an uneventful chapter that could have been part of the first one and definitely didn't need to take this long to come out but w h o c a r e s it's out now and it's setting up for some plot okay.
> 
> also it might have come out sooner if season 6 didn't emotionally destroy me like there needs to be a discord server for voltron fanfic writers (or just voltron fans in general) to cry about the new seasons ok someone make that and i'll join as emotional baggage ok
> 
> I'm also going to try and update regularly now, maybe on Fridays but don't count on anything I'm unreliable at best. Since this was a short and kinda unexciting chapter I'll try and get another one out soon.

“Welcome to Preddonia.” The prince announced as the foliage cleared revealing a huge castle civilization. The castle looked like a rustic version of the Castle of Lions only significantly larger and plant covered. All sorts of different creatures walked in and out of the large gates, including several who looked familiar such as Balmerans, Olkarians, and Arusians. People were carrying supplies, wheeling machines around, and scariest of all, carrying groaning bodies through the gate.

As Keith and the others walked towards the castle, he couldn't help but notice he was getting bizarre looks. The prince had advised them all to wear their helmets to avoid suspicion, but even then they were seen as foreigners. He almost wished he had the prince's cloak so he could pull the hood over his head and hide his face.

Pidge accelerated her pace to walk next to the prince, looking around in amazement. “This is incredible, it looks even more advanced than our ship! Is this a ship?” She added, turning her head towards the prince.

He smiled and shook his head. “No, this one is just a castle. It's all Father could build on short notice. He only had about a movement to build this.” he explained.

The three paladins gaped at him. “A movement? That's all it took for someone to build this?” Pidge gasped in disbelief. “It would take people on Earth deca-phoebs to build this!”

The prince simply shrugged. “It's not quite as nice on the inside. Had he any help he could have finished this in a few quinents.”

“How many arms does this guy have?!” Lance demanded, impressed.

The prince raised an eyebrow. “Only two, obviously.”

Lance opened his mouth like he was going to say more, but Pidge stopped and gasped, leaning in close to the others. “Guys, is that  _ Hunk? _ ” she asked while pointing.

Keith honestly expected to see the Hunk they all knew standing there. Lance looked very similar to his other-dimensional counterpart, and from what he could gather, he and Pidge also looked very similar to their other world counterparts. When his eyes landed on what Pidge was talking about, however, his jaw actually dropped. Standing by the entrance to the castle balancing a boulder effortlessly on his shoulder stood Hunk as an 8 foot tall  _ Balmeran _ . At first glance he wouldn't be able to recognize him, but the yellow sash tied around his forehead and the warm face were dead giveaways. “No way, that's awesome. He would die if he knew he was a Balmeran, he loves those guys.”

“This is bad.” The prince corrected, pulling his hood up and accelerating the pace. “If he sees us, he's going to stop me and lecture me about bringing strangers into camp. And if he sees who you guys are, you'll be killed.” he promised. “Intruders, especially ones who look like important figures here, are unwelcome.”

Before he could even finish speaking, though, someone recognized him and shouted his name, drawing the attention of everyone around them, including Hunk. He smiled towards him, then when seeing who he was with, he frowned, setting the boulder down with a heavy thud and slowly strode towards them. “Lance—”

“I'm not in the mood for another lecture, Hunk.” the prince warned, flipping his hood back in annoyance.

“You can't keep bringing refugees back, we can barely support who we have here.” Hunk continued anyway. 

The prince gave him an annoyed glare. “They aren't normal refugees, they—”

“They're different, I get it, but we can't save them all. We don't have the means to protect them.” 

Keith bit his tongue, determined not to blow their cover. Lance, on the other hand, had different ideas. “Who says we need protecting?” he demanded. Keith sighed.

Hunk turned towards him and the prince grew the biggest  _ oh shit _ face Keith'd ever seen. Hunk had an initial look of anger on his face that melted into confusion. His gaze traveled from face to face until it landed back on the guilty prince’s. “ _ Lance! _ ”

“I’ll explain, just please, don’t say anything. Especially not to Father.” The prince begged, grabbing Hunk’s bicep. “None of us know what’s going on, but I can tell they’re the answer we’re looking for.” He added with a hushed whisper. 

Keith glanced between Pidge and Lance, then back to Hunk, whose jaw was tight. He was sure there was no way Hunk was going to agree, but a strong arm pressed against his back and ushered him inside the castle doors. He didn’t stop pushing the group until they were at the staircase. “We’ll talk tomorrow. Your father is going to have to know, Lance. Just…” Hunk sighed, turning away from the group. “Keep them hidden for now, okay? We have enough problems right now and we don’t need these three adding to it.” He declared before striding away.

Hearing those words, especially from someone they knew and loved, really stung. No, that wasn’t entirely accurate. This Hunk was not someone they knew, he was a stranger who was affected by war and the need to support his own people, let alone support people from another reality. It wouldn’t be fair to him to judge him based on this. Despite that, however, Pidge and Lance both visibly sagged, not used to the third member of their trio acting in such a way.

The prince bit his bottom lip and began ascending the stairs, gesturing for the others to follow him. There was a tense silence, and no one seemed willing to break it until the prince spoke. “Don't pay much attention to his words, he just isn't fond of strangers. It's a… long story.” he explained briefly.

“You don't have to apologize for him. Our Hunk is pretty wary too, especially after this one got the brunt of a bomb.” Keith said, jerking his head towards Lance, who huffed. “Ours would probably be just as suspicious if you all dropped into our world. We're not gonna take it too hard.”

There were small noises of agreement until silence came back, though it didn't last as long this time. They were lead to a door that the prince opened with a hand scan, revealing a decently sized room. It looked previously used, as there were wooden ornate boxes on top of dressers and other memorabilia someone may collect in their room, though Keith couldn't help but feel that it still felt lonely.

As if noticing his thoughts on the room, the prince cleared his throat. “This was Keith's old room. Mine is right down the hall. He was my, ah, bodyguard.” he said, glancing down at the floor. Lance didn't seem to think much of it, but Keith and Pidge glanced at each other, knowing there was a lot more going on. Keith didn't care what universe this was, he knew that kids was a lot more than just a greeting. “There's a shower in here and there should still be some clothes in the dressers. Though, now that I think about it, Pidge, you may have to borrow clothes from Katie, these may be a bit large on you. If you don't mind wearing these for tonight, I can have her bring you some tomorrow.”

“Nah, it's fine.” Pidge said, ripping off her helmet. “I can live with these for a while, no biggie.”

The prince smiled, then frowned and he glanced into the room again. “And I'm sorry for there only being a single bed, as Hunk so kindly said, we are running out of rooms to spare. If the three of you sharing a room is uncomfortable, I can try and see if there's anything we can do.” he explained. 

“I don't care if we share a room, I'm just not sleeping next to him.” Pidge said while jabbing a thumb towards Lance. 

“Hey!” he yelled indignantly.

“Do you not remember that time you and Hunk had to stay in my room because the power in your hall went out? We decided to share a bed and you literally kicked me out in your sleep. I'm not doing that again. I'll start on the floor.”

Lance grabbed her and pulled her in a headlock, grinding his fist into her head as she yelled at him. Keith rolled his eyes and smiled at the two. He noticed the prince staring at him with a longing look in his eyes and felt a pang of guilt wash over him. He wasn't who this prince wanted, but his presence alone was damn torturous.

“Alright, well, I'll come retrieve you in the morning. Please try not to wander from the room, as I cannot guarantee your lives if you do leave. Sleep well.” The prince said, looking at them each individually, though Keith couldn't help but notice his gaze lingered on him. As he turned and walked down the hall, Keith couldn't help but feel like there was something he should do, but he didn't know what he could do besides watch helplessly as the prince turned the corner. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> comments and kudos are always appreciated. HMU on discord too if you ever wanna chat  anl god noona #0540 


	3. Chapter 3

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Things get confusing for everyone as the truth is revealed.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So because the last chapter was literally shit, I decided to give an unexpectedly long update right after. If you notice it's somewhat influenced by later seasons, i'm sorry but it's kind of hard. I think I started this before season 5 came out (as a complaint for Keith leaving team voltron in season 4) and just never got around to doing anything with it UNTIL SEASONS 5 & 6 DESTROYED MY LIFE (i'm still crying)
> 
> also there's a lot of dialogue which i'm sorry about but can't really be avoided because there's 7 freaking characters who can't shut up i'm sorry
> 
> anyway I hope u enjoy and i hope it's not too confusing... swt

When Keith woke up the next morning, he couldn’t help but notice his back was stiff and he was laying on the floor. He blinked for a few moments, trying to remember why he passed out on the floor, and then he remembered yesterday.

He sat up and looked around, noticing that despite her protests Pidge and Lance were sleeping in the queen sized bed together. After they all showered they realized how exhausted they were, and at that point she must have not cared. It didn’t seem weird either, it seemed like something a brother and sister would do, which just proved their closeness despite not actually being related, something Keith wasn’t sure he would ever understand.

He went to the bathroom, which was actually a lot more spacious than the prince had made it out to be, and decided to get another shower, more so out of boredness and a need to soothe his aching muscles than a need to feel clean. He walked out in a pair of baggy sweatpants and a tighter shirt, appreciating that his other-dimensional self had the same fashion sense as he did, and a towel draped around his neck to catch the water falling off the ends of his hair. 

Just as he stepped out, the door swung open softly, revealing the Altean prince on the other side. He poked his head in, and when he noticed the other two sleeping, he gestured for Keith to step out of the room. Giving his hair a final shake with the towel, he tossed it carelessly on the floor and quietly padded past the bed and out the door with the prince. “Sorry, I didn't want to wake your friends yet, but I thought if you were awake you might want to come out and eat? I'm sorry, it's just that my Keith — not that I owned him or anything — usually got stir crazy if he was left in a room without anything to do for too long. Not saying that you are him, you're clearly your own person, I just—”

“Lance, you’re babbling.” Keith staid, stopping the boy. “I was getting kind of bored, I literally just took a shower for no reason. I wouldn’t mind getting breakfast with you, but are you sure it’s okay for me to leave the room?” He asked.

The prince nodded. “If it’s not too much of a bother, I thought we could go to my room. It’s not much better, but at least you’ll have something to do.” 

“No, that’s fine. I’d appreciate it.” Keith said with a smile. “I was actually hoping I would get to talk to you alone.”

The prince instantly perked up, then quickly tried to hide it. “Let’s just get to my room before someone sees you, okay?” he suggested, grabbing Keith's hand and pulling him down the hallway. He was hyper aware of how the prince's hand felt in his own. His hands were soft and warm, just as warm as his personality, he could almost understand why another version of himself would be intimate with him.

He was tugged into a room that was honestly smaller than he expected. He was half sure that the room was gonna be about 50 feet long with huge windows and a king sized bed with huge drapes cascading off of it. The room, however, looked like a small storage closet, about 10 feet wide and long, and a full twin sized bed taking up most of it. There was a small desk in the corner and a dresser right next to it.

The prince smiled sheepishly as he shut the door behind him. “I know it isn't much, but we were out of space so I gave up my room for a medical center. It's actually quite cozy in here.”

“That's something I wanted to ask about.” Keith said, awkwardly glancing around the room. “Where should I—”

“On the bed is fine. I can sit at my desk if that makes you more comfortable.” The prince quickly said, moving to the desk regardless.

Keith grabbed his arm before he could get much further. “Lance, I know this is awkward for you but you really need to learn to be okay with me here. I'm not your lover or boyfriend or whatever you two were. It's going to be hard on all of us and I really need you to focus.” he said firmly.

The prince glanced towards the ground, then sighed and moved to sit on his bed. “I'm sorry, I really am. It's just… he's been gone for so long, having you here isn't making this any easier on me. I miss him, okay?” he sighed in defeat, falling back on the bed and letting his limbs spread out carelessly. Keith sat next to his head on the edge of the bed, nodding solemnly. “I'm really sorry to put this pressure on you.”

“I just need you to understand that I'm not him. I don't know the extent of your relationship and it wouldn't be fair to him if I tried to take his place.” The prince groaned in understanding, rolling to the side and pressing his face into the comforter. Keith gave him a long stare, then finally opened his mouth. “So what exactly is going on?” he asked.

“War.” The prince muttered distastefully, rolling back onto his back with a sour look. “Zarkon caused almost every planet in the solar system and beyond to fall into civil war.”

“Glad to know he's causing trouble everywhere he goes.” Keith muttered. “So what do you mean by civil war? Is it each planet, or…?”

The prince nodded, sitting up and readjusting himself on the bed so he was facing Keith, who did the same. “Altea, for example, is in the midst of one of the bloodiest civil wars. Zarkon convinced half the citizens that slavery of other species was okay so long as they didn't know they were slaves, while the other half believes it's morally wrong no matter what.” he explained. 

Frowning at the familiarity, Keith continued. “So then this place, it's kind of like a healing center?”

The prince nodded. “We take in any sick or wounded from any planet and also help resupply the other planets, but as Hunk said, we're running out of room. The castle can hold about a thousand people comfortably, and we have ten times as much, if not more than that, inhabiting the castle right now.” 

“Holy shit,” Keith breathed, barely able to fathom the number. “That's insane… Should the three of us really have a room to ourselves?”

“Oh, don't even worry about it. Allura still has a huge room to herself, and my father has a room that's kept empty for when he visits. And, that room was kept empty anyway, no one wanted to sleep there after…” The prince cleared his throat. “Regardless, the three of you sharing a room isn't a problem.”

Keith nodded, then glanced back up at the other man on the bed. “Can I just ask… which side are you on?” he asked hesitantly.

The prince huffed. “As if I would ever side with Zarkon for anything. Slaves are slaves, end of discussion.”

Admittedly, Keith sighed in relief. Then, he scooted back towards the headboard of the bed, laying the covers over his legs. “So… your version of me, what—”

There was a loud bang at the door that startled the two. Keith almost fell out of the bed and the prince jumped up, dusting himself off as if he had been doing something dirty. 

The prince quickly gestured for Keith to hide underneath the desk and Keith did so without hesitation. With his back pressed against the wall and his shoulders pressed uncomfortably against the sides of the desk, he waited with bated breath for the door to open. There was a hushed exchange, and Keith wondered if something bad was happening until he smelled food, which made his stomach growl louder than he would have liked. 

When the door shut, the prince gestured for Keith to come out. He pushed himself up off the floor and back onto the bed. The prince smiled and showed him the plated food. “Just a server bringing breakfast, no worries. Go ahead and eat.” he said.

Keith wanted to deny, but his stomach rumbled loudly again and he took a small bite of a piece of toast. The prince laughed and stabbed the scrambled eggs, shoving a decent amount in his mouth. Keith was just glad it wasn't food goo. 

They were eating in relative silence,  making idle conversation every now and then, when there was another knock at the door. Before either of them could react, the door swung open and a short girl poked her head in. “Hey Lance, Hunk said you—” she cut off abruptly when she noticed Keith sitting there, half a piece of toast hanging out of his mouth. “Oh for quiznack's sake.”

The prince groaned, falling backwards with a fork still in his mouth. “Keith, meet Katie Holt, our tech wizard. Katie, this is one of the people Hunk must have blabbed to you about.”

Katie looked exactly like Pidge, only her hair was long and tied into two low pigtails. She also didn't have her brother's glasses, which was weird to Keith. She kept the same green color palette, however, which made her still feel like the same dork he knew. 

“Others? Lance, what did you do?” she sighed. 

The prince sat up, stretching out his back, wincing when it popped. “I think it's time to wake your friends up.”

 

* * *

 

“And then, if you just flip this piece here… there! The drone works!”

“That's amazing! I never would have thought to do that, you're a genius!”

“And I never would have thought to switch the proxy wires for nefflin! We're both geniuses.”

“There are too many Pidges in this room.” Lance groaned. “Too much nerd talk.”

“For your small brain.” Pidge muttered, eliciting a giggle from Katie.

Keith turned towards Lance and narrowed his eyes. “You're one to talk about having too many of someone in a room.” he hissed.

Before any more arguing or insults to Lance could occur, Hunk cleared his throat. “So Lance, if I may ask, just what do you intend to happen with these three here?”

The prince leaned forward. “I think that so long as they're here, they can help us gain an upper hand in the fight against Zarkon.” he said. “I can tell, these three who came from the comet are special, it's what Allura had been predicting for months now.” 

“What do you mean she's been predicting this?” Keith asked, meeting the prince's eyes.

“She told me she had a dream where three familiar faces landed near Preddonia after crashing in on a comet. They were going to help us.” he explained.

Keith glanced towards Pidge and Lance. “Comet? No, we crashed into a quintessence field in our Voltron Lion.” Pidge said.

Hunk, the prince, and Katie glanced between each other. “What is Voltron? What are the lions?” Katie asked.

“You guys have seriously never heard of Voltron?” Lance asked genuinely.

Pidge gave him a look. “This is another reality, Lance. Voltron doesn't exist in as many realities as it does exist in.” she explained.

“Oh man,” Hunk sighed, rubbing his temples. “I bet if someone tried to write a story about this it would be confusing to tell.”

“Voltron is a giant fighting robot composed of 5 different lion robots.” Keith said, getting to the point. “One is somewhere on this planet, though it shouldn't take us long to find.”

“Yeah, the guy who made them designed them to be at least somewhat sentient, or they ended up somewhat sentient, it’s all really confusing, so if we don’t find it, it will definitely find us.” Pidge added, adjusting her glasses. “I just hope that slamming into the quintessence didn’t mess it up, or we’re in big trouble.”

Katie pursed her lips, then unplugged the drone her and Pidge had been working on so she could search something on her computer. After a moment of frantic typing, she flipped the computer around to display some weird diagrams that Keith didn’t understand. “You keep mentioning a quintessence field, are you referring to this? Because if so, a rift would be more accurate.” She asked, hitting a button so the diagram began moving. Keith still wasn’t sure what was happening, and clearly Lance wasn’t either, but Pidge seemed to understand it perfectly.

“Yeah, it’s like a hidden pocket that had properties no one fully understands. I tried to get us to avoid it, but  _ someone _ doesn’t listen to their crew.” Pidge accused, giving Lance a glare. Lance threw his arms up in defeat, annoyed with her constant blame.

Katie switched the computer back around, typing a few more things in. “This quintessence rift actually isn’t constant, it comes and goes. It will last a few hours a day, and while it’s here, it charges the planet.” She explained. “This is one of the only planets that doesn’t naturally have much quintessence, so it’s essential in keeping the planet alive. I didn’t think, however, that anything could cross through the rift.”

“Voltron has special powers.” Pidge explained as Keith and Lance nodded in agreement. “It was made out a trans-reality comet, so it’s sort of able to deal with quintessence exposure better? I’m really not 100% sure, I don’t even think Alfor was sure when he—”

“My father built this ‘Voltron?’” The prince questioned, causing everyone in the room to look at him. 

“Yes? No? I don’t know how to answer that.” Pidge said. “The King Alfor of our reality did. I’m sure if your father built this castle, he could build one of the lions, but he’d need the ore which is really hard to come by.” 

The prince frowned but nodded. Katie cleared her throat. “As I was explaining, those rifts that open give us temporary power, sort of like a quintessence rain shower, but the amount that comes in each time barely keeps us up and running as is. It appears your… lion… actually sapped some of the energy that was supposed to be harvested by the planet. We may not have enough to make it, we’re gonna have to work on upgrades.” She explained. 

“How often does the rift open?” Keith asked nervously.

The sound of keys clicking on the keyboard filled the tense silence. Pidge kept glancing over Katie’s shoulder to see what she was doing, but nothing was said. Keith almost repeated his question until Katie looked up with a grim look. “The rift only opens about once a phoeb on average, sometimes about a phoeb and a half.”

“What?” Keith and Lance demanded in unison. 

“You’re saying it’s going to take us an entire freaking month, or possibly  _ two _ freaking months to get back home?!” Lance asked in disbelief. 

“Voltron is literally going to be unable to be formed.” Pidge added, biting her bottom lip. 

“We’re already down Shiro and Allura has no idea what she’s doing, we can’t leave Hunk as the only one who has a clue as to what he’s doing.” Keith snapped quickly as if anyone could be blamed. “We need to go back, and it needs to be  _ now _ .”

The three natives blinked in shock at their outbursts. “A phoeb is just an average, there have been occasions where it opened after a few movements!” Katie explained quickly. “It’s completely random, there’s no pattern. Trust me, I’ve tried.”

“Would you be willing to let me look at the numbers?” Pidge asked. “We really don’t have even a quintent to spare, there has to be another way.”

“Wait wait wait, hold on.” Hunk interrupted, gaining everyone’s attention. “First we need to figure out what to do with  _ these _ .” He said accusingly, jabbing a thumb at Keith, Pidge, and Lance. “We can’t just have them wandering around all willy-nilly, it’s going to cause mass panic, especially with you two.” He gestured towards Lance and the Prince.

“I don’t appreciate your tone.” Keith seethed.

“We could just try explaining everything to everyone.” The prince suggested, his voice rising in annoyance. “Not everything new has to be a bad thing!”

The chaos in the room began to grow as everyone imputed their own opinions of what should happen. The fighting could have continued forever if the door hadn’t been thrown open with a very familiar yet pissed off face on the other side. “Just what is all the commotion in here?”

“Allura!” The prince squeaked out, jumping to his feet. Hunk and Katie both stood, quickly bowing in respect. The other three glanced at each other, unsure if they should follow suite. 

The decision was quickly made for them, however, as Allura made her way across the room towards her brother, grabbing him by the ear and close to her face, despite his protest. “Lance, what did you do?” She asked him with quite the glare.

“Ow, I didn’t do anything!” He assured her quickly, trying to free himself. “They showed up on their own, I just lead them here! You’re the one who had the dream—”

“Oh, I see, you find complete strangers in the middle of a war who happen to look  _ exactly  _ like you two and someone who’s  _ gone missing _ and thought that the best idea was to lead them into one of the most crucial planets on the union’s side? I suppose it never occured to you that they could be clones that are here to steal information, did it?” She accused before letting her brother speak.

The prince shrugged down in embarrassment, which made Keith feel the need to stand up and say something. “We’re not clones! We came from a different reality that’s admittedly similar to this one, but we’re not from here!” He yelled. “Check my memories or whatever you have to do to help yourself sleep at night, but we’re telling the truth!” 

“And why would they drop all three of us now, especially me?” Lance added. “I look a lot like this guy, but we’re clearly distinguishable!”

“Princess,” Katie stated, drawing everyone’s attention. “They’re telling the truth. The guy who looks like Keith is Galra.”

The royals and Hunk’s eyes widened in absolute shock. “That’s impossible, the Galra have been extinct for thousands of years.” Allura said, absently letting go of her brother. “No Galra DNA has been able to be extracted for about a thousand years either.”

“I’m positive. I did a quick bioscan and the results don’t lie.” 

“He is Galra.” Pidge added. “Well, technically half-Galra. Or less, it’s really unclear.”

“Wait, if the Galra are extinct, how the hell does Zarkon exist?” Keith asked.

“As I explained, it’s a civil war.” The prince stated. “Alteans are the dominant race amongst many solar systems. Father rules Altea and this sector, while Zarkon’s reign is much further out, though each planet has about an equal amount of both ruler’s people due to trading and work situations. It’s literally a civil war amongst the Altean race with unfortunately many other planets and species getting sucked in based on their location. It’s truly awful.”

“It’s wonderful and all that we’re learning, I do appreciate learning,” Hunk interrupted, standing to his full height, almost hitting the ceiling. “But what are we supposed to do with these three?”

Allura pursed her lips, clearly in deep thought. Then, with a resigned sigh, she glanced between Hunk and Katie. “They may stay in the castle until I have spoken with my father, but they are never to be left alone, I don’t want them free-roaming the castle. I’d prefer them stay with either of you two for now and not with my brother, but what must be done must be done. I think it’s also best they be kept in the underground bunker for now as to prevent anyone without my authorization to see them. Have I made myself clear?” she asked, though her question seemed directly meant for her brother.

Everyone nodded, but all with uncertainty painted on their faces. Keith wasn’t sure what was going to happen before the next quintessence rift opened, but he knew whatever it was, it was going to be long and stressful for everyone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I really tried to give Hunk and Allura the mindset of people who had been suffering through war for a while while giving Katie and Altean Lance a more laid back mindset because they're younger? Trust me it was all as confusing to write as it is to read but now that the confusing shit is out of the way we can finally start enjoying the plot :))))) I just wanted to establish that this AU is veeeery different from the canon universe bc I want my freedom while still trying to be somewhat compliant
> 
> also in s3e7 it shows that even tho alfor designed the lions he still was sort of unaware of their abilities and quintessence itself, but this story is designed to be between s3e4 & s3e5 so that's my excuse for Pidge being like maybe or maybe not???? 500 times i'm truly sorry. I think everything else that was explained should be s3e4 compliant but if it's not we all watched all the seasons anyway so lets pretend it doesn't matter. I never actually intended to continue this so I'm kinda compiling information as I go swts
> 
> if you have any questions please let me know, I do try to reply to all my comments. I also greatly appreciate comments and kudos :)))))
> 
> ~~whenthenotesarelongerthanthechapteritselfOTL~~


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